Red Lily vs the Horses of the Sun
by slyfox101
Summary: Red Lily only wishes to be free, and never wants to fall in love. But, instead, she is being forced to marry a son of the Horse of the Sun. AND falls in love with a stallion from Ponyville
1. Chapter 1

"Aunt Celestia? Why do I have to go to this ball?" Asked Princess Red Lily, from her spot in front of the mirrors. Her light red fur was sparkling with cleanliness, while her dark red mane was put up in a tangle of hair spray and mane pins, away from the princess' favored style of down, wavy and all natural. Her eye lashes were far too long in her opinion. There was simply far too much makeup on her. But her royal highness, Princess Celestia, said they made her brown eyes look soft, and kind.

Too bad Red Lily wanted her eyes to look fierce and sharp.

"Because, Lily, you must make a great first impression on your future husband, Strong Bull." Said Princess Celestia, patiently answering Red's questions, looking with pride at her niece. The Horses of the Sun were all only earth ponies, who could not fly or do magic, which is why they insisted on marrying royalty, so that their brides would be alicorns.

"Great. My husband _you_ picked out for me. What kind of name is 'Strong Bull' anyway? Am I marrying a Bull? You know, this goes against everything Equestria stands for. Love and whatnot. I never would have guessed that _you_ were the ruler for Equestria. Having me marry someone I don't know, let alone love."

Princess Celestia sighed. "We've been over this. We must make peace with the Horses of the Sun at once in order to maintain peace with them. Without their blessing, I cannot raise the sun. And without the sun, all of Equestria would not be able to survive."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. But why couldn't you make peace without having to marry me off?"

"Royal marriage between our two worlds is a tradition that has gone on for-"

"'For thousands and thousands of years.' Yeah, I know that. But couldn't you break tradition for once? When Equestria was first founded, its rulers didn't want anything to do with 'love' but now that's exactly what Equestria stands for. Obviously, if our views change, then our traditions have to change as well."

"The Horses of the Sun are not a forgiving nation." Princess Celestia walked closer to look at her niece in a better perspective. "And are not ponies of change. They like their way of life perfectly fine."

Lily huffed at her aunt.

"...I'm sorry." Celestia bowed her head. "This is my only option."

"But Aunt Celestia-" whined Lily.

Celestia looked up into her niece's eyes, suddenly stern. "As a princess, the first thing on your mind should be what's best for your people. Now, head downstairs this minute." She walked from the room, door slamming shut behind her.

Lily flinched as the door slammed shut. She slowly turned back to the mirror, taking herself in. _Too much makeup._ she thought._ And the dress, the dress!_

Her dress was a yellow color, with trim that touched the floor. In her mane, two yellow suns were holding a veil that glistened when she moved.

"Words cannot describe my disgust of this dress. It doesn't match my mane at all!" She thought aloud. "Way to kiss up to the Horses of the Sun, Auntie Celestia."

The beauty of it was only matched by the uncomfortableness of it. The dress pinned her wings around her body tightly and her mane made her horn hurt. The outfit made her horn and her wings stand out. Her cutie mark, a gold pair of wings, was hidden from view.

She looked outside as her aunt lowered the sun. This was her favorite part of the day. When the sun was setting, beautiful colors streaked across the sky, the biggest, most beautiful rainbow in Red Lily's opinion. She could see every city of Equestria from her tower. She never left her tower, another amazing quirk of living with royalty. Her aunts insisted that if she didn't see Equestria, she wouldn't miss it as much.

However, Lily wanted nothing more than to explore her home land. She had never even been allowed to leave the castle! She was forced to study all day, everyday, about everything.

Just because she hadn't been allowed to leave, doesn't mean that she didn't. She left the castle every night, just to race along through Canterlot, freedom ringing in her ears. She flew around in circles, once going so fast she accidently made a little tornado.

It wasn't that hard to escape the guards. But the newest one, Flash Sentry, had found her out a couple of months ago, when he first started out as a guard at celestia's castle. All he did was smile and nod at her, making her smile back at him. They became pretty good friends after that, him always telling her when it was safe to leave, her always telling him ridiculous stories she made up when he was posted outside of her room.

"One day, I'm going to ride a dragon. And we are going to be the best of friends!"

"Some day, I'm going to fly with the moon. And we'd soar throughout the world together."

"I will one day be free."

Flash was always very kind and everything. He enjoyed listening to her stories. And he always shared his dreams with her as well, that were as ridiculous as hers.

"One day, I'm going to marry a wonderful alicorn, with the most beautiful purple eyes you've ever seen."

Red Lily always tried to push him to say the lucky alicorn's name, but he never would. It was just as well, Red knew who it was any way. Once, when she was sneaking back into the castle after her late-night run, she caught him staring at a picture. She casually walked up to him and said 'Boo!' and he had jumped about a mile away. Red had never found out the alicorn's name, but she could so find out.

Flash would be escorting her, and announcing her arrival to the ball, so everypony would be watching him and her, so there was no chance that they would be able to talk to each other during the actual ball, which meant that Lily would actually have to dance and talk with her fiancé. Ugh.

There was a knock on her door. "Come in!" She called. Flash stuck his head in. "You ready?" He asked her.

"No." He laughed and walked over to her.

"Come on. It won't be that bad."

Lily huffed again. "Yes it will." They started there long decent to the ball. "If it was up to me, I would never, ever fall in love."

"I don't know about that Red."

"Why ever not?"

"Falling in love is just something that happens to you. You can't control it."

"Right. Because that's what happened to you, you love sick puppy."

They laughed together.

"So..." Asked Lily, "Will the lucky mare be here tonight?"

"I hope so. But even if she is, I won't be able to leave my post."

"Aw, bummer. If I see her, I will send you in your direction."

"Thanks."

By this time, they had made it to the ball room. Red drew in her breath, turning from happy, to regal. Flash had seen this happen many times and wondered how she did it. She would be smiling at Flash goofing off one minute, but then frowning the next. Lily had a very good mask.

"Let us meet my future husband." Said Lily.

Flash nodded and went through the curtain. "Mares and gentlecolts! May I introduce, Princess Red Lily!"

As Red Lily stepped through the curtains, a collective gasp went through the ball room. Inwardly, Lily huffed again. The whole ball room was decorated to make her stand out more. She was obviously the main point of this whole ball.

Pushing the worst of her thoughts aside, Red Lily walked toward her throne, placed at the end of the room. She heard whispers surrounding her, as Flash led the way. She ignored those as well.

Once she was seated next to Celestia and Flash stood next to her, the music started again. She would have to wait until her fiancé was introduced to her before she could dance. While waiting, she observed the ponies dancing. Seven ponies in particular astounded her. The staff. They were obviously not from Canterlot. Their outfits hinted at homemade. But they looked far better than her own. Their outfits actually looked comfortable.

As she watched them, a stallion with an orange mane, came out. He was wearing a very elegant suit, that really didn't look very comfortable. His suit really didn't suit him. He was a muscular guy who looked like he worked all day. She watched him for a while, taking in his beautiful green eyes. An orange mare nudged him and nodded at Red Lily. The stallion looked over at her. His eyes went wide, and she quickly looked away. For some reason, she was blushing.

After two hours, one of the bright yellow stallions walked up to her, with a smaller, but no less dignified stallion following.

"Your Highness." Princess Celestia bowed to the stallion.

"Celestia." His Highness disrespectfully did not bow to the princess. He, instead, turned his attention to Red. "Princess Red Lily, I would like to introduce my son. Strong Bull." Strong Bull bowed to her and she returned the gesture, feeling a lot of eyes on her.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Said Strong Bull, studying her.

"The feeling is mutual." She said in an extremely posh accent. She was trying to keep her aggravation hidden. He had kept her waiting for _two hours_! The dance would be over soon. She looked at him. From his face, she could tell that he didn't like to smile a lot, and, from the glances she kept seeing him toss at His Majesty, would do anything to get the approval of his father.

After a couple moments of awkward silence, Strong Bull cleared his throat. "Would you like to dance?"

Red Lily frowned at his invitation, but nonetheless, stood up, not answering his question. She, instead, walked to the dance floor and looked expectantly behind her. Strong Bull hurried to her. Red Lily knew that that meant that he would do anything to keep his cool, and reputation.

The other ponies all hurried off the dance floor and crowded around to watch the couple. The music slowed to a, supposedly, romantic tune as the two started to dance.

Once again, the stallion cleared his throat, trying to make conversation. "You are very pretty."

As she was spun around by him, she caught the eyes of the green-eyed stallion, who was watching her intensely. He quickly looked away when she looked over at him. The orange mare whispered to him. He nodded and headed outside, but not before glancing at Lily one last time.

Suddenly, Lily didn't want to be polite to the one she was dancing with.

She dropped her posh accent. "Well, you are observant, yet not insightful at all, are you?"

As Strong Bull tried to make sense of her words, she excused herself, and went to get some punch.

Scratch that. Apple cider. _Way_ better than punch. And it was from Sweet Apple Acres! Sweet.

"Well howdy there, sugar cube!" Said the orange mare from earlier. She spoke with a country accent. "I'm Apple Jack. You tired from dancing already? You haven't been dancing all that long."

"I'm not tired of dancing; Just who I'm dancing with. Can I have some apple cider please? I simply _adore_ apples from Sweet Apple Acres."

"Sure thang, sugar cube." Apple Jack was scooping in the bowl for some, only to realize that they were all out of cider. She looked back to the princess. "Give me second, and I'll be back with your cider lickety-split." She grinned at the princess and headed out to get the princess her cider.

While waiting around for her cider, Lily looked around at the rest of the staff, all of whom were busy serving apple crumble to the guests. The white unicorn, with the purple mane was whining and the purple alicorn sighed and let her run off. (_Where in Equestria have I seen her before?_ wondered Lily.) The unicorn squealed and took off for Strong Bull. Red Lily turned her head to her fiancé, who immediately started dancing with her, completely forgetting his future wife.

Apple Jack came back. "My brother is bringing in some more apple cider from the trailer. He'll be back in a jiffy!" Apple Jack came around and started setting up more glasses for the guests.

"Can I help?"

"Sure thang, sugar cube." Lily used magic to set up the cups in style.

"...Speaking of my brother, I saw you looking at him earlier."

"Depends. Is he a red stallion, with an orange mane?"

"Yup!"

"Never heard of him! Changing the subject!" said Lily in a singsong voice.

After a moment, she coughed. "Um...what's his name?"

Apple Jack grinned. "His name is Big Macintosh."

"Uh-huh. Good to know..." Lily looked away, smiling.

* * *

After a while of Lily asking what else she could do to help, the stallion known as Big Macintosh came back with a crate filled with bottles of apple cider. He froze, seeing Lily helping his sister serve apple crumble to the guests. He tried to slowly back out of the room, being the shy stallion he is, but his sister caught him before he could leave.

"Big Mac! What are you doing?" Apple Jack put down the plate she was putting crumble on. "You're supposed to be giving the princess some cider! And she definitely deserves it. She's been working real hard on helping me serve the guests."

Big Mac looked over at the princess who was giving Princess Celestia some crumble. For some reason, Celestia was glaring at her. She bent down to whisper to the beautiful princess, looking over at the obnoxious Strong Bull. Strong Bull was dancing with Rarity, who had a very star struck look in her eyes. The princess looked over at him too. After a moment, she sighed, whispered something to her aunt, and walked over to AJ. Princess Celestia followed closely behind.

"Hey, AJ? I have to go. Is this Big Macintosh?"

"Yup." Said AJ.

Lily looked at Big Mac. She didn't speak for a minute. She quickly covered it up with her perky attitude. "Hi! I'm Lily-" She stopped as Princess Celestia glared at her again. "Oops. I mean," she added a posh accent to her voice, toning down her perkiness. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Macintosh. I am Princess Red Lily, heir to the throne, burdened- I mean blessed- with the future responsibility of marrying Strong Bull, earning Princess Celestia her blessing from the Horses of the Sun."

Big Mac and Apple Jack chuckled slightly at her 'burden' remark.

"Now, I must be excused. My..._fiancé_... is...supposedly... waiting for me." She looked over at Strong Bull, but he wasn't waiting for her. He was dancing with Rarity, but stopped when a disappointed Rarity tapped his shoulder and pointed at the pretty princess. Strong Bull looked over at her.

"Well, shoot, Princess Red Lily! You haven't had your apple cider yet!" Apple Jack nodded at Big Mac. Big Mac put down the cider he was carrying, looking away from Lily.

* * *

_Hmm. Aunt Celestia won't want me to keep my fiancé waiting_. Thought Lily, _But she won't want me to abandon my subjects. So, either delicious apple cider, or stuck up snooty pants._

An easy decision to make.

"Why, of course. I came over here to drink apple cider, and that's what I'm going to do." She glared defiantly at her aunt, but just for a second. She dropped her eyes, pouring herself a glass of cider with her magic.

As she took a sip, she noticed from the corner of her eye her fiancé coming. But all other thoughts left her as the cider touched her tongue.

_Wow! This is good!_ she thought.

She looked at her glass, suddenly empty, and looked up at AJ and Big Mac, licking her lips.

"Yum! This is _so_ good!" she glanced at her aunt and then her fiancé, who was waiting expectantly. "I wish I could stay and chat more," said Lily, "But I simply must get going. My fiancé is waiting."

She glanced at Big Mac one more time, dreading marrying the priss of a prince more than ever, and walked over to Strong Bull.

After watching her niece and the prince, Princess Celestia walked to her throne, clearing her throat. When she got there, she spoke to the whole crowd of ponies.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts, welcome to Equestria! I would first like to thank the Horses of the Sun for joining us before the wedding, to let the lucky couple meet before the wedding." The ponies turned their heads to the regal Horses, and the Horses waved, snobbishly." And, I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming to celebrate the ties of unity of Prince Strong Bull of the Horses of the Sun, and Princess Red Lily of Equestria!" All the ponies stomped their hooves in applause.

It finally hit Red Lily full on, that she was going to marry a snobbish, rude, rich dude that she barely knew. She looked over at Big Mac. He was looking away from her, determinedly putting away the cider.

"We must now, sadly, put an end to celebration until the wedding. Thank you, again, for coming to this celebration!"

"That Princess Celestia says thank you far too much!" Red Lily overheard His Royal Highness telling his fellow snobs, as everyone walked out. "I hope Princess Red Lily doesn't take after her aunt."

Lily pretended not to hear him. Strong Bull said farewell, kissing his fiancé on the cheek. Now with anyone else, it would've been sweet, but she had caught him kissing the white furred unicorn with the pretty purple mane on the cheek.

"Good bye." Strong Bull rushed to follow his father.

Lily looked around and the only ones that were left were the help. There was a pink earth pony, who was putting away...a canon? Their were a couple of pegasi, one fast one with really cool rainbow mane who was putting away streamers really fast, and a quiet, gentle one who was slowly putting away the cups. The unicorn with the purple mane was putting away the table cloths neatly away into a box. (When she looked up and saw the princess, she gulped and looked away quickly, no doubt thinking about the prince kissing her.) There was an alicorn, who was using her magic to take down the balloons. (_Where have I seen her before..._) She quickly remembered the picture that Flash had showed her. She grinned.

AJ was there, too, throwing away the trash.

"Hey AJ! You mind if I help you?"

Apple Jack couldn't speak, with a trash bag in her mouth. Lily used her magic to make all the trash float to the trash bags. Apple Jack sighed, and sat down, exhausted.

"Well, thanks, Princess! I am plumb tuckered out from tonight. You just saved me hours of picking up trash."

"Your welcome!" Lily sat next to AJ, "Can I ask, who is that alicorn there?" She gestured to the purple alicorn.

"Why, that's Twilight Sparkle. She's one mighty fine foal who uses magic all the time."

Lily grinned. She knew someone who would be happy about that!

Speak of the devil.

"Your highness! I must escort you to your room now." Flash Sentry came in and froze when he saw Twilight Sparkle.

"That's okay. I'll go by myself so you can stay and have some apple cider with Princess Twilight Sparkle. How does that sound?"

Flash Sentry walked to Twilight and they started chatting.

"And I'll just sneak out of here this way and get some running in before bed. Cluck like a chicken if you disagree."

Unsurprisingly, Flash didn't cluck.

"Good." She snuck out the back, taking off her dress and her horn glowing. Her fur changed color to a pale purple color, her mane turned light blue. Her eyes changed blue and her hair was back to being down and wavy.

She ran. Her tail flying out behind her. Once she got past the guards, she flew off, enjoying her flight.


	2. Running away

As Red Lily flew off, she realized that she probably should've taken more precaution when changing her look. A bunch of ponies must have seen her... Or at least the staff ponies who were from out of town. Oh, well. She was finally free of her duties!

...That is, until Strong Bull came tomorrow to show her his kingdom.

Red Lily flew to the ground, suddenly sullen. She started to run. Her thoughts always pounded her when she was flying or running. She thought of what her new life would be like with the Horses of the Sun be like.

She would be dressed in the uncomfortable clothes that were tucked into suitcases in her room. Every. Stinking. Day.

Her duties would be to stand around her husband to ensure that he looked good. As hard as it was to admit to herself, she was beautiful.

Bleargh.

Guards would surround her every minute of every day of every week. Watching her. Red Lily imagined herself coming from the bathroom and asking for toilet paper. Each of the guards held out a roll.

Okay, maybe she could live with never running out of T.P.

But her husband...?

She would be expected to bear his children. Meaning, the two of them would have to... Do more than kiss. And she could barely handle a kiss on the cheek from him.

Double bleargh.

She spread her wings once more, a gold tint arriving upon her wings. She grinned. No matter what, if she was disguised or not, her wings turned gold when she reached an area of pure zen while flying. The only other one to have witnessed it was Flash.  
Her wings shown through the night, glowing. In this moment of absolute zen, Red Lily decided that she wished for one thing.

Freedom.

She decided to flee.

The perfect time to leave was right away, while she was out. If she waited any longer, all of her attendants would surround her every hour of every day, leaving her no chance to escape.

She would have no chance to say goodbye to Flash, so she quickly wrote a little note, transporting it to her room, where she knew he would find it.

With one last glance at the castle, she flapped her wings hard and took off, leaving a gold and scarlet trail behind her.

She wasn't even sure where in the Equestria she was going. She racked her brains, and thought of Ponyville, where the nicest ponies lived. Red Lily happened to know that the six famous ponies who saved Equestria countless times lived there. As she thought about it, she realized that the serving ponies must've been them. She giggled to herself, thinking of how Flash was in love with Twilight Sparkle.

She stopped above a tree, slowly thinking of her future as a runaway. She realized that if she was going to really hide, she would have to take the train so she wouldn't attract attention to herself. She grabbed her purse that she always kept for emergencies and took out the money need for a train ticket and flew to ground to trot the rest of the way to the train station.

Red Lily hid on top of a tree so that she could wait for morning in secret. After waiting forever, the sun finally poked his head out.

Red Lily went up to get a ticket. After grabbing her ticket, she hopped on the train, thirty minutes before departure. She watched the other ponies pay and enter as well. Her eyes widened as she was a poor stallion have to carry a ton of bags on his back.  
She saw the owner of the bags fluff her purple mane as she waited her friends. It was the pony who had danced with Red Lily's fiancé! Red Lily lowered her head so that she wouldn't get seen by the ponies, only to remember that she was disguised. She had thought that the ponies were going to stay in Canterlot for a while, not get on the first train home.

The ponies all got onto the train, all smiles. They entered the car with, guess who? Red Lily in it. "Big Mackintosh is planning on staying for another day." Said Apple Jack. "He said something about introducing himself to royalty." Upon entering, Apple Jack stopped and stared at Red Lily for a second, trying to place the familiar pony.

Eventually, she shrugged and joined her friends in laughter. Red Lily sighed in relief.

The train left the station with no interruptions from the royal guard, so that was a good sign. Just as soon as Red Lily was about to relax, the rainbow Pegasus decided to come over and make friends.

"So! Where you from?" She said, boldly and outright.

Red Lily tried ignoring her, but from the stares she got from the other ponies who were around her, she got the feeling that that wasn't the best idea.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" She flew so that she was in the mysterious Pegasus's face.

Red Lily calmly said,"Please get out of my face."

"What if I don't want to?" Rainbow Dash sneered.

"Rainbow Dash! Are you really going to pick a fight with someone who you haven't even met yet?"

"She started it!"

"Did not! And the name's Red!" Yelled Red, going with Flash's nickname for her.t

"Did too!" She glanced up and down Red. "Why do they call you Red?" Red's fur was purple and her mane was blue. Her cutie mark was a chef's hat, so there was no red on that. "What, do you only like cooking red things?"

Red smirked. "Why don't we have a race and I'll show you?"

The two Pegasai flew up to the top of the train. The other ponies glanced at each other and quickly followed.

Fluttershy would, of course, be the referee.

Rainbow Dash cracked her wings and the muscles in her neck. Red spread her wings out, fluttering them gently. Rainbow Dash glanced at them, and noticed that they shown when the light hit them just so. Rainbow Dash thought that she saw them flash red.

Fluttershy waved the flag and the two were off. The trail of red and gold was following Red's every move. Twilight cocked her head in confusion. How did that work?

The competitors flew and flew and when Rainbow Dash thought that Red was way far behind, she started to slow down so that she could see where Red was at. She couldn't find her. She turned back forward only to freeze in shock because red was in front of her. Red laughed and mouthed "Slowpoke!" She took off at top speed.

Rainbow Dash growled and followed her and after a while, Rainbow Dash was struggling to keep her breath. Around that time, Red had entered her stage of zen and had closed her eyes, soaking in the beauty of speed.

Rainbow Dash glanced at her, very confused. This pony was fast! But she wasn't about to let that get in the way of winning this race.  
They both flew until the biting wind was starting to hurt Rainbow Dash's eyes. Red randomly flew up, intent on doing a flip, completely forgetting that she was in a race. Rainbow Dash was quick to follow her.

Red opened her eyes to see the height. Rainbow Dash had started to pant and was semi-unconscious. Red flew to her rescue, letting gravity take over. She spread her wings just so and picked up speed. She came to Rainbow Dash's rescue, lifting up at just the right moment, causing a Rain-Boom!

When Red slowly let Rainbow Dash back on the train, the other ponies crowded around them, shocked at the speed of Red.

"Oh, why darling! You are so fast!" Said the girly unicorn. Wasn't her name Rarity?  
"So, you're named Red because the trail of speed that follows you is red and gold?" Questioned Twilight Sparkle.

Red slowly nodded, also in awe of her accomplishment. Truth was, she was never able to fly completely freely so she hadn't had a chance to go her top speed.  
Rainbow was just gaining consciousness. She had barely witnessed the Rain-Boom, but she saw it and got mad at Red again.

"What? Are you coming to Ponyville just to show me up? Let me guess; you're going to try out for the Wonderbolts soon?"

Red thought about it. She really didn't want to attract attention to herself.

She shook her head at Rainbow Dash's question. "Racing isn't really my thing."  
The other ponies stared at her while she came up with a cover story.

"I was going to try and get a job at sweet apple acres. I love it so much!"  
As Red licked her chops thinking of the delicious apples, Apple Jack thought that it looked very familiar.

Rarity smiled. "We happen to know someone who works there! I'm sure she can get a good word in for you, Red, dear."

"Huh?" Said Apple Jack, wondering where she was going with this.

Red was excited. "Really? You can get a good word in for me?!"

Rarity smiled and wrapped her hoof around Apple Jack's shoulder. "In fact, she's right here!"

Apple Jack stuttered. "W-well if you're a good worker, I'm sure the family will let you in."

Red grinned happily, not only thinking of apples, but also a certain stallion.

* * *

By the time the train stopped in Ponyville, all of the ponies had become best friends with Red, even Rainbow Dash.

They were all laughing as they gathered their luggage. Fluttershy glanced at Red. "Don't you have any suitcases?"

Red glanced around. "Um, no. My packages were supposed to be delivered early, but... I'm not sure where they went."

"You have a place to stay...right?" Said Apple Jack.

Red shook her head. "Aunt May was supposed to pick me up here. But... She was old and..." She was silent for a second. "Left for a retirement home further in the country."

Apple Jack quickly offered up her home. "We have an extra bedroom that Big Mackintosh keeps his weights in. While we test your apple handling skills, you can stay there."

Red smiled at Apple Jack, grateful.

Pinkie Pie pounced on the opportunity to show her new friend around Ponyville. After the grand tour.

They went all around town, checking each and every spot. Red did her best to remember all the spots.

But it was hard with Pinkie Pie talking so fast. "And over here we have the cupcake shop I live on the second floor because I workthereimeancomeonitwouldbehardformetoworkwhereididntsleeplikeeveryoneelseinPonyvillesoIlivenearmyworklikeyouwillifyougetthejobatapplejacksfarmand-"

"When she talks fast, we just tone her out." Said Apple Jack.

As the group started headed toward Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Jack started describing her family. "I have a little sister, Apple Bloom, who hasn't gotten her cutie mark yet, along with Rarity's younger sister and their friend who made up a club called the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"My granny is pretty much in charge of the farm, so get on her good side. Her name is Granny Smith. She's pretty awesome and knows practically everything about anything.

"Now my older brother," Red held her breath as she awaited Apple Jack'a opinion on her brother. "His name is Big Mackintosh. He's pretty strong, and focuses on work too much. He usually has a harness on."

"Sometimes, he'll even take us on hay rides!" Cried Apple Bloom, jumping out of a pile of hay. "He's so strong, he once lifted an oven with a pie on it. The pie ended up hitting him on the face but still-"

"Apple _Bloom_," cried a little unicorn. "You're supposed to be hiding!"

"Oh! Right." She quickly explained to the older ponies that they were trying to get their hiding cutie marks. As the young fillies ran off, Red smiled. "You're sister must think highly of Big Mackintosh."

"She loves it when Big Mac gives her and her friends hay rides."Said Rarity, giving her opinion. "But sometimes I think that Big Mac spends to much time in the yard when he could be out looking for adventure or romance or-"

Rainbow Dash laughed at that last bit. "Do you have a crush on Big Mac, Rarity?"

Rarity acted indignant. "Why! I most certainly do not have a crush on him!" Rarity glanced at Apple Jack. "I-I mean, he's a nice guy but I could never-"

Apple Jack just laughed as they entered the house.

"Granny Smith! I got a new recruit who wants to work here!"

"Wazzat? Oh. " Granny Smith got out of her rocking chair and walked over to Red. She moved Red's chin all around and got a good look at her.

"Hmm. She looks strong..." Granny Smith went around to check her legs. "Legs could use a little more work done to them..."

Granny Smith grabbed Red's wing and pushed it down to test it's reflexes. The wing was so fast and sharp that it cut a fragment of mane from Granny Smith's mane.

"Excellent reflexes!"

Granny Smith slowly made it back to her chair. "Have her work in the fields until Big Mackintosh gets back. We need to have a family vote." And with that, she started to snore.

Apple Jack was shocked. "Granny Smith is as stubborn as a mule and she refused to accept anymore help. She must _really_ be impressed with you!"

Red smiled. "Where do I start?"

* * *

Apple Jack led Red to the orchard while the other ponies said their farewells. "This is how you apple buck." Apple Jack kicked her hind legs out and kicked the tree. A bunch of apples fell into buckets around the tree.

Apple Jack glanced at Red's wings. "You would probably be faster at flying around and shaking the apples out though."

"Let's test it. You buck as many trees as possible while I fly and whoever gets the most apples wins."

Apple Jack sighed. "You are as competitive as Rainbow dash and me."

They ended up racing and Red won by quite a bit. They had finished a week's worth of chores in a day.

By the time they stopped, it was getting dark. They headed in for dinner.

"Once Big Mackintosh get here, we'll have dinner than a family vote." Said Apple Jack, walking back to the house. Once they were inside, they noticed an extra bag near the front door. "He's here!"

Big Mackintosh was seated at the table, his growling stomach complaining. He looked really sad.

"Big Mackintosh? This is Red, And we're going to have a family vote to see if she'll be joining us in working."

Big Mackintosh glanced at Red then went back to his stupor.

"Did you end up meeting the princess?"

Big Mac opened his mouth to explain when Twilight came running in.

"Princess Red Lily is missing!"


	3. Flash's visit

"Princess Red Lily is gone!"

"What do you mean, 'gone'?" Cried Apple Jack.

"I mean that the Princess is gone!"

"Where did she go?"

"I don't know! But Princess Celestia is calling in everyone to try and find her!" Twilight started hyperventilating. She took a deep breath. "Without Red Lily, the Horses if the Sun won't give Princess Celestia her blessing, meaning that the Sun won't ever rise. Without the Sun, we will be in darkness. This is bad, this is so very, very bad!"

"Well, what are we stickin' around here for? We have to find her!" Apple Jack started to head for the door.

"But we don't have any leads to where she could be!"

Spike came running in. "Twilight! I-" He burped, releasing a letter into the air.  
Twilight opened the paper and said, "I stand corrected. Her best friend was named-"Twilight stopped for a second to blush. "Flash Sentry. the two always seemed pretty close, according to Princess Celestia."

Big Mackintosh stood up. "What are we waitin' for?" He walked out the door.

"Big Mac!" Called Twilight. "There aren't any more trains from Canterlot today!"

Big Mac huffed then stalked back in. He went to his room where he slammed the door shut.

Apple Jack stared after him, wondering what had happened to her brother. "All righty then."

"Why don't we grab everyone and bring them here?"Said Twilight, partly to herself. "We can all head to the station in the morning all at once. Flash Sentry will be coming on the train then." Twilight smiled, whether thinking of the wonderful plan or a certain stallion couldn't be told.

Apple Jack glanced at Big Mackintosh's room. "I don't want to leave my brother here without someone to watch him. Something's off about him and I want him to talk about it to somepony."

Twilight's gaze swept over to Red, whom both of them had temporarily forgotten was there. "Tell you what. Red? If you can get Big Mac to sleep, then I will personally see to you working here."

Red grinned and nodded. Apple Jack had to make sure she didn't get her hopes up to high. "I have to warn you; the last time he insisted on being like this, I couldn't get him to stop working and get in to bed until he finally collapsed in the field."

Red nodded again. Twilight looked at her, curiously. She was sure that she had seen her before...

"We'll see you later, Red." The two ponies took off.

Red decided to finish her dinner. As she sat down to eat, Big Mackintosh stomped out and slammed the door on his way to work. Red winced. She swallowed the last bit of her food and followed. She watched as Big Mackintosh apple bucked the rest of the days work. She monitored his every move, as to get a read on what she should do.  
Every time he kicked, he grunted, in an abnormal way. Like he was angry. He glared at tree just before brutally kicking it, as if the tree were responsible for his pain.

After watching him get bruised on the hooves a couple times, Red decided to tire him out. She walked up to his cart and sat down in it. Big Mac glanced at her and moved to the next tree, carrying Red in the cart the whole time.

Big Mac's breath was slowing down by the time the sun was starting to set. He was slowing down on his Apple bucking too. Red chose this time to get closer.

"So..." Big Mac jumped at the sound of her voice. "You work when you're stressed out?"

"Uh-Yup." Big Mac yawned, finished bucking apples and moved on to repairing the always broken barn.

Red followed. "Why are you stressed out?"

Big Mac stopped abruptly, causing Red to bump into him. He turned his head to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. Red followed his gaze. Red was looking so long, he didn't even notice when Big Mac moved on. She, the obedient shadow, quickly followed him.

"Are you stressed out about the princess?"  
Big Mac glared at Red. "Her name's Red Lily." He growled. He started to lift up a heavy looking piece of wood.

Red thought about that. Big Mac was worried because of...her?

The slab of wood was slipping from Big Mac's grip and Red caught it. When Bug Mac glared at her, she smiled at him. "You don't want to get injured when you're going to find out what happened to Red Lily, do you?"

Big Mac sighed. "Nope." He yawned again and reluctantly accepting her help.  
They pushed the slab up together. Red smiled at Big Mac. "Why don't I help you out? That way you won't be as tired in the morning."

Big Mac huffed but didn't disagree.  
After a some more work, Big Mac yawned again. Red glanced at him.

Red yawned theatrically. "I'm going to go to bed. When we question Flash, I want to look as menacing as possible; not tired and grouchy."

After thinking that over, Big Mackintosh followed suit. Red smiled as she heard the stallion walk up to his room.

When the next day arrived, Big Mac was hitched to the wagon before anyone was even awake. He snorted in impatience as the ponies walked up to him.

"No offense to dear Big Mac, but why is he coming?" Asked Rarity. She was wearing a sun hat and sunglasses.

"He's insisted. He convinced me using that silver tongue of his."

"Why on earth-?"

Big Mac stomped and glared at the girls, the universal sign that tells girls to hurry up.

"We 're hurrying!" They all galloped to the wagon and hopped on. Big Mac threatened to start running, but Fluttershy cried out "Wait!" Big Mac skidded to a stop. "Red isn't here!"

"She said that she wanted to finish her breakfast. She told us to go ahead without her." Said Twilight.

Big Mac sat down, eyes on the horizon.

"Big Mac? We should go."

Big Mac refused to move. Red walked out and froze when she saw the wagon. She gulped and trotted over, knowing that they were waiting for her.

"I told you that you could go without me!" She told Twilight. She hopped onto the wagon and Big Mac took off. Rarity, unprepared, lost her hat.

"My hat!" She cried, as the wind whipped her mane around.

Red flew off the cart and grabbed the hat. When she turned around, Big Mac's cart was gone.

She flapped her wings in the air, thinking. Why was Big Mac so eager to get to the station?

More importantly, Red couldn't decide whether to follow or go back to the farm.

If she went with them, the guards might recognize her. On the other hoof, if she didn't go, Big Mac might tear Flash Sentry apart. Her friend was far more important than keeping secret.

She flapped her wings quickly and quickly caught up with the cart, where a grateful Rarity grabbed her hat back.

When they got to the station, Big Mac unhitched so quickly the wagon fell, and Apple Jack and Rarity fell. The others had flown up and Pinkie had jumped off, using her Pinkie sense.

"Gee, thanks Big Mac." Said Apple Jack, rubbing her head.

"Oh! I'm all dirty!" Cried Rarity. Pinkie Pie ran around her in a tornado fashion and made the dirt fall off.

Big Mac didn't notice the mini scene he had created. He had started pacing in aggravation.

"Maybe a good nights sleep isn't what he needed last night..." Said Apple Jack.

Red glanced at Big Mac and decided that Big Mac should probably go home. She walked over to him and started pacing with him, copying his exact anger snorts and stomps. After a while, Big Mac noticed how ridiculous he looked and accidentally cracked a smile. He stopped. Red whispered into his ear. "If you stay here, you might rip off Flash Sentry's tail. He probably won't end up helping us if he had been damaged."

Big Mac sat down and tried to act calm.

Red shook her head. "You're still really angry. You should go home and I promise that I will get you any information we get out of him."

Big Mac scanned her up and down, searching for any trace of a lie. He must have not found any, because he stood up and started to walk away, painstakingly slow.

"Hurry up!" Yelled Red because the train was just pulling into the station. Big Mac forced himself to look forward and galloped away.

As Red turned back to the train, she gasped. Pegasai guards were all surrounding where the train would release the prisoner. They were not there five seconds ago.

When the door opened, more guards led Flash Sentry, in chains, to Twilight. He had been stripped of his armor and was haunched over from the weight of the chains.

"Get rid of those chains at once!" Cried Twilight. "He is not dangerous! He's not a murderer!"

"We are sorry, your highness." One of the guards came out and tried to explain. "But we have orders from Princess Celestia. We don't have all the facts yet, so he is a prime murder suspect."

"You don't even know if Princess Red Lily is dead or not!" Twilight ran over to Flash and helped lift his burden. He tried to thank her, but couldn't get the words out.

Red slunk in deeper into the crowd, guilt covering her face.

"This is an extremely dire matter." Said the leader of the Horses of the Sun, stepping out. His son was close behind. Red glared at him, unnoticed because she looked like a commoner. "We need him to talk. We must find the Princess, or else Equestria will never see its precious sun again." The ruler added a hint of mocking into his sentence.

Red was starting to regret her decision to come.

"Spike! Send a letter to Princess Celestia; Tell her that Flash Sentry is in good hooves. She must give the order to release Flash or else I won't help find Princess Red Lily!"

Everyone gasped as the dragon quickly wrote that down. As he sent it off, everyone waited anxiously for the Princess' reply.

While waiting, Red glanced at Twilight. The alicorn was glaring at the castle, defiantly. Twilight was known around all of Equestria for being smart, helpful and, above all, obedient. Red slid her gaze over to Flash, who was looking at Twilight with even more confusion than Red had. After a while, Flash turned his confusion into happiness and relieved himself of his burden, setting his rump onto the ground. The guards were about to order him up, but Twilight's glare was almost as worthy as Fluttershy's. Flash Sentry gave her a thankful smile while Spike finally burped out the reply.

"Wow, her calligraphy is pretty off today. 'My somewhat faithful student Twilight, I -'"

Red covered up Spike's mouth before he could continue.

"Why don't I read it this time Spike?" Red grabbed the letter and scanned it.

This is what the letter said;

My semi faithful student Twilight, Are you questioning my orders? Get some information out of him or else! Equestria needs the sun! Your annoyed LEADER, Celestia.

This is what Red read aloud.

"'My faithful student Twilight. You are absolutely correct when saying that Flash should be free. You may release him, as long as you get some information out. Your mentor and fellow princess, Princess Celestia.'"

"That's not what-"

"Rainbow Dash! Read that." Rainbow Dash read the letter. She glanced at Red and then glanced at Flash, looking miserable in his containment. "If Red said that it was true, then it's true."

The other five ponies immediately knew that they were lying. Strong Bull kind of caught on too.

"Let me see that letter-"

"Apple Jack! Doesn't it say that?" Red pushed the letter into Apple Jack's face. "She's the most honest pony here." Pinkie Pie gasped, knowing Apple Jack's incapability of lying but Fluttershy quickly covered her mouth.

With everyone staring at her, Apple Jack scanned the letter. She slowly nodded. "The Princess would rather not have Flash abused and in chains..."

Twilight grinned and zapped the chains away. She caught the exhausted Flash and escorted him to the wagon.

Red glared/smirked at Strong Bull as she was hitched onto the wagon along with rainbow Dash. Strong Bull thought that it looked very familiar...

When they finished their long journey, Big Mac was just coming in from working on the fields. Red glanced at the trees and saw deep hoof prints on all of them. She unhitched herself, flew over to him and quickly explained the situation so he would not injure the stallion further.

Big Mac huffed and reluctantly agreed to stay away.

Twilight brought Flash to the couch in the house. Fluttershy brought him some water. Red and Rainbow Dash stood guard, because he was the most hated pony in Equestria.

When Fluttershy came back with his drink, Flash nodded his thanks. He took a big gulp.

Twilight looked indecisive. She couldn't decide between her interrogative side or her gentle side.

Rainbow Dash stepped in. "What do you know about The Princess, huh?" She flew into Flash's face. Big Mac chose then to start trying to get in and Red was pushing her weight against the door. Pinkie Pie and Apple Jack hurried to help her.

"Rainbow! Calm down!" Said Twilight, getting back into Rainbow's face.

"He knows something about the Princess disappearing!" Argued Rainbow, indignantly.

Rainbow was about to reply when Flash interrupted. "It's all right." Flash shakily stood up. "I don't know where Princess Red Lily is."

Rainbow groaned and Big Mac slowed down for a second, evidently hearing what he said.

"But I think I know why she is missing." Big Mac started pushing against the door again.

"Why? Was she captured? Who would capture the Princess? You know, besides all the monsters that are trying to take over Equestria?" Said Rainbow.

"I don't think she was taken." Flash sighed, trying to gain his strength. "When I was responsible for her, we became friends. And she was a talker. And a dreamer." Flash smiled at the memory of his friend. "She used to dream of flying onto a dragon to leave Equestria, to see if there is anything else out there. She never felt happy at her home in the castle." Flash frowned. "I tried to set her mind at ease, but then she was told that she was to marry Strong Bull. She had decided long ago that stallions would not affect her life. She was very unhappy. But I think a small part of her was thinking that Strong Bull might not be so bad. Then, she met him." Flash glanced at Rarity, who was nervously pushing sunglasses over her eyes, blushing. "And found out that he didn't care for her either. I think that she ran away."

"How could she run away?" Asked Fluttershy. "Aren't you in charge of watching her 24/7?"

Flash glanced at Twilight and hung his head. "I was... Distracted last night."

Twilight hung her head along with him.

Big Mac finally burst through the door, knocking down the three ponies who were blocking the door. Seething in anger, he tried to stomp over to Flash but Red quickly picked herself up and stood in front off Big Mac. He tried to go around her but she sidestepped to block him again. He tried to glare at her to intimidate her into moving but Red glared back. After several minutes of tense silence, Big Mac took a deep breath and sat on the floor. Red smirked and looked at the rest of the group.

Everyone had been staring at the scene; no one could calm Big Mac when he was in an anger frenzy. And yet, this total stranger was able to stop him in the middle of his biggest anger yet.

Flash looked at her, seeing something familiar in her defiance. It almost looked like-

"I'm going to cook up some lunch!" Cried Red, heading to the kitchen.

Both Big Mac and Flash Sentry could've sworn they saw a flash of brown in Red's eyes.


End file.
